Chicago hall, playground defaced with antisemitic grafitti, ADL opposes Mamdani plan

"This mayor does not treat the hatred facing Jewish New Yorkers as an emergency and refuses to recognize the different forms it takes,” the ADL said.

Deerfield’s village hall in suburban Chicago was defaced overnight with antisemitic graffiti, local officials announced, marking another antisemitic incident in the area. The graffiti was discovered the next morning and quickly removed. Local police opened an investigation.

Officials in the Illinois village said Deerfield “unequivocally condemns all acts of antisemitism and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community.” They added that acts of antisemitic hate “are unacceptable in Deerfield or anywhere,” and said police had increased monitoring of public buildings and houses of worship.

Swastika spray-painted on playground

The incident comes less than a week after a similar incident in nearby Highland Park. Last Tuesday, unidentified individuals spray-painted a swastika on a playground slide at Devonshire Park. Park employees removed the symbol, and Highland Park police opened an investigation and increased their presence in parks and around houses of worship.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said the incident occurred at a particularly sensitive time for the Jewish community, between the High Holy Days and preparations for Sukkot. She said it had “once again shaken many of us” and stressed that the city strongly condemned it. Rotering published a message in five languages, including Hebrew: “Hate has no place here.”

ADL opposes Mamdani antisemitism strategy

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) sharply criticized  New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly released plan to combat antisemitism and his handling of the issue.

The ADL said “Mamdani’s antisemitism strategy has finally been released,” arguing that it “only confirms what we already knew: This mayor does not treat the hatred facing Jewish New Yorkers as an emergency and refuses to recognize the different forms it takes.”

The organization said it had documented hundreds of antisemitic incidents in New York City since Mamdani took office, nearly 40% of which were related to Israel. It criticized him for having “thrown out the IHRA definition on his first day in office” and said that, nine months later, his strategy still offered no alternative definition of antisemitism.

The ADL also alleged that Mamdani had “turned a blind eye” when flags glorifying terrorist organizations were waved outside synagogues, and crowds gathered outside houses of worship to express support for those organizations. It added that he “continues to prioritize his anti-Israel agenda over the basic promises he made to Jewish New Yorkers.”

The ADL said it expected the city administration to ensure “zero tolerance for antisemitism and extremism,” protect Jewish institutions, adopt a clear and official definition of antisemitism for the city to use, and keep city contracts, pensions, and procurement free of ideological boycotts.